


And She's Made of Trouble

by Ellienerd14



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, F/M, First Kiss, Markus is soft for North, N&M: get arrested, North: thats so sad Connor play despacito, They meet at a protest group
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-20 09:26:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16134407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellienerd14/pseuds/Ellienerd14
Summary: “Cheer up,” North says, “it’s not that bad.”It’s her fault that Markus is even here. Arrested on his first protest. He can’t tell if it’s impressive or not.-In which Markus spends time with the beautiful but elusive North from his protest group after getting arrested.She's trouble.(He loves it.)





	And She's Made of Trouble

**Author's Note:**

> My DBH [playlist ](https://open.spotify.com/user/klaineygays/playlist/7pfrGUbJeKPArct6n5xsu6?si=w_RIoLmVR_-Y3-kczj14oQ) is here!

_Leo will be furious._

But, Markus can’t find the energy to care. He knows, despite an inevitable lecture on responsibility, that his father will be understanding. One day they’ll laugh about this.

Leo, however, is not even remotely that understanding. He’ll pretend he wasn’t going to be out doing Red Ice if his younger brother hadn’t called for bail and never let this go. In fact, Markus is convinced that his older brother is probably going over sneering remarks to greet him with right now.

The young women sitting in the bunk above him laughs at something that the dectective says. The noise brings Markus back to the cell and the only sliver lining.  

North dangles her head down from the upper bunk, head tilted slightly so she was facing him; it reminds him of the iconic Spiderman kiss he used to admire when he went through his superhero phase. (Why is his first thought on kissing her? He’s meant to be mad at her.) 

Markus makes a point of not looking at her. 

“Cheer up,” she says, “it’s not that bad.”

It’s her fault that Markus is even here. Arrested on his first protest. He can’t tell if it’s impressive or not.

“I’m basically here every weekend,” she continues, still hanging off the edge. North’s amber-coloured hair sways near his face and Markus has to make a conscious effort to not reach out and touch it. “I would consider the Detective a good friend now. Right, Connor?”

The young police officer doesn’t look up. “If you say so North.”

She laughs some more.

“It’s not funny.”

North’s upside down face disappears, and despite the fact she got him into this mess, he’s mildly disappointed.

“Stop brooding.”

“I’m not-”

North laughs, although a little more bitter than before. “I get it. You blame me for this mess right? I thought we all agreed we were willing to get arrested for our cause. I thought I knew you Markus.”

“But,” he argues, conflicted between trying to get his point across and staying on her good side, “I wasn’t arrested for our cause. I was arrested because you stole a motorbike from a cop.”

“I was going to put it back,” North replies, “and the officer who I ‘borrowed’ it from was a prick.”

In the corner, the detective laughs too. Connor, he remembers, a little older than them both and seemingly as close to her as North had boasted about.

“Look, I don’t say this much, but I guess I’m sorry.”

Markus sighs, “I know. Apart from the end, it did feel good to help liberate people.”

“That’s what I love about protests! Helping people. Those poor, exploited Cyberlife workers deserve equality. We helped them tonight.”

Her voice is softer now. Markus noticed that in the meetings leading up to the fateful protest. Simon had spoken confidently about how Cyberlife were unfairly paying low wages to their overseas workers whilst overcharging for their technology. That’s when he first spotted North, sitting in front of him in a beanie, at the literal edge of her seat.

The next week, he had worked up the courage to sit next to her but getting beyond that was slow. In fact, when she had dragged him onto a stolen motorcycle and sped away from the graffitied storefront, it had been the closest they’d ever been. (Literally; he’d clung to her as they weaved across town. It was fun until the flashing lights and police sirens followed them.)

North hops down from her higher bunk gracefully and sits on the edge of the bed.

“You think you’ll come back to Jericho?” she asks in a whisper, leaning closer so he could hear her.

Connor kept writing, humming a song to himself. It was like they were the only two people in the world.  

“Yeah,” he replies, despite any logic, “if Leo lets me live that far.”

“Your brother?”

It was surprising she remembered. They’d spoken about family once and only briefly. (North had bounced around the system with her older sister. She was an aunt. She found Carl’s works fascinating.)

“He’d rather be anywhere than picking me up from here,” Markus answers.

“Sounds like a right asshole,” North comments, “so, he’ll probably take his time?”

Markus was suddenly too aware of how close they were, even if they didn’t need to whisper anymore.

“Yeah. What about you? Who’s coming?”

North shrugs. “Kara maybe, if she can get a babysitter. Or one of the Jericho lot. I’m not fussed. A good protest is worth this.”

Being _this close_ to her was worth it, if Markus was totally honest. She was so bright. So pretty. So fierce. Like a burning fire and was stepping closer and closer to the flames. He knew from the start that North would burn him eventually.

 _Not today,_ he thought, dropping eye contact. Acting on his ill-advised crush wouldn’t get him anywhere. It would only make things more awkward. It was the worse place to try and initiate something.

North seems to take a hint he never meant to drop and shuffles away. She seems much smaller suddenly - a stark difference to the passionate and occasionally violent young woman he was used to.

Markus smiles at her. “Thanks for helping me.”

“Next time you wouldn’t need me to hold your hand,” North jokes. (Now, that was an idea.) “I liked your art. You really take after your Dad then.”

“I’ll show you what I can do with a canvas,” he promises. “You weren’t too bad either.”

“Writing slogans and tipping benches is easy,” North counters (she’s looking at him with her full attention and it has him on the edge of blushing), “but adding the LED on the posters to show the workers were basically as disposable as the old phone models? That’s clever.”

Markus scratches the back of head self consciously. “It felt like the right thing to do. I prefer to be a pacifist. Graffiti makes it so much easier to send a message.”

“Interesting,” she replies. North tilts her head, studying him. “So, you think I’m a bad person then? Because of the broken window and benches.”

“There’s other methods,” Markus answers, choosing his words carefully, “but no one was hurt.”

She tilts her head, looking at him analytically. “The way I see it, passion drives a revolution. I can’t show my passion for the cause like you do. All I know how to do is scream. But you… you chose your words and messages so well.”

Markus bit his lip, sure the beaming grin threatening to spread at her compliment would give his crush away. “Thanks.”

She bumps their shoulders together. “At least you’re not pouting anymore.”

“I wasn’t pouting.”

“Sure, pretty boy,” she teases. The topic shift is hard to work out. Did she think he’s judging her or was North just-

_Wait._

“What did you just call me?”

North smiles and leans in, close enough to not just be hopeful thinking, “you heard me Markus. Got any nicknames for me?”

The sound of a chair scraping made her pull away, just as Markus had thought she might be about to…

“North,” a woman following the detective scolds, “again?”

North stands up, moving towards the bars anxiously.

(The empty space next to him suddenly seems to stretch a mile.)

“K-kara?” she stutters, seemingly surprised. That was a first. “So soon?”

“I saw the protest on the news and figured my impulsive baby sister would be there. So, the police call wasn’t a surprise.” There was something kind to the older woman, despite the circumstances. Her hair was cut short and was a darker shade than North’s own. Other than that, the two women looked very similar. The protective older sister who North had spoken so fondly of, Markus guesses. 

“Right, yeah. Sorry.”

North steps out the door, stealing a last glance to Markus before following her sister out of sight. Connor follows them both, leaving him alone.

 _North was like a hurricane,_ Markus decides, in the hour it takes for Leo drag himself to the station. And if he ever got round to picking a nickname for her, it would be _Trouble._

_(The problem was he liked trouble a little too much.)_

 

* * *

 

Despite being twenty-one and not living at home anymore, Markus still finds himself grounded for the three weeks following his brief arrest. That mostly consisted of Leo keeping a close eye on Markus and banning him from going to Jericho meetings and staying away from the girl who was ‘made of trouble’.

Funny, he thinks, how Leo can make North’s best quality sound bad. He liked how devious she was.

Still, he finds a way, to return to his cause. (To find North.)

When Markus enters the meeting, he’s met by applause. Dedication for the cause, they called it, bravery. (Stupidity.)

Despite his warm welcome and another exciting speech from Simon, Markus spends the whole meeting trying to get a glimpse of the amber coloured hair but North is nowhere to be seen.

She isn’t the next week either.

Or the next.

 

* * *

 

On the fourth week, Lucy approaches him with bright eyes. She’s the oldest member of Jericho which came with a certain amount of wisdom. Markus has only spoken to her once, on his first meeting, so when she approaches, it’s a surprise.

“You’re searching for a shadow,” Lucy tells him, taking the seat he’s optimistically saving for North. “The girl is not here.”

“I know,” he replies, “I just hoped-”

“Hope and fate are good qualities. But, with little direction,” Lucy smiles, “the one you seek works on the docks.”

“North?” he asks, “that’s where she is?”

“Or where she will be,” Lucy answers. She stand up in a dreamy state. “Bring the shadow back. Find a way to anchor her.”

She presses something into his hand and wanders away.

An address.

 

* * *

 

Part of Markus is a little afraid she wouldn’t be there. But, after a few minutes of searching, he spots her bright hair tucked into a black beanie.

“North,” he calls out, stepping closer, “North!”

She turns around, her long hair whipping in the breeze. Her eyes light up as they meet his own.

“Markus!”

She drops the clipboard and runs towards him. North stops a few inches away from him.

“I was worried. You stopped coming-”

“I- you were worried?” she repeats, starting to smile, “Really?”

“Yes. I thought maybe you were in trouble and I was regretted not finding a way to contact you. Lucy gave me this address and-”

“I’m glad you came,” she interrupts, “I’m okay. Really, I’m okay. My niece got a fever.”

“Is she okay?”

“Getting there,” North continues, “did you really drive this whole way to check on me?”

Now she’s said out loud, it seems too much, too weird. They’re basically strangers.

“I guess so.”

“I thought you’d be mad at me,” North confesses, “because of the last protest.”

“I knew what I was getting myself into.”

North is suddenly closer. Did she move or was it him?

“With Jericho?” she asks, like she already knows the answer.

He shakes his head. His feet take him another step closer. “No.”

“With me?”

“My brother says you’re trouble,” Markus tells her. He reaches for hand and interlocks their fingers, “and I’m still here.”

North pushes herself up to his height and makes the first move. She touches his cheek and leans in, kissing him.

After all the wanting this moment, it’s almost too perfect. They were holding hands still, making it seem even more Disney than his life had the right to.

When she pulls away, her eyes are bright and she takes in his blush hungrily.

“So, you like some trouble?”

Markus nods, taking in her too-perfect features and thinking of every snarky comment and the brushing of their fingers during meetings. Of her pushing a stolen helmet into his arms and asking if he was scared of motorbikes.

“I like you, don’t I?”

**Author's Note:**

> Markus and North have such a fascinating dynamic, I didn't realise how much I shipped them until I wrote my [first DBH fic.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16106516)  
> Let me know what you thought! 
> 
> Socials:  
> Twitter: @ellienerd14  
> Tumblr: @bazwillendinflames


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